Last Sunday, in the ‘Beatitudes’, Jesus called his disciples to be vulnerable risk-takers in the way they lived their lives.

Continuing the Sermon on the Mount this week, Jesus goes on to say that if they live this way, they will be like the salt that transforms the fl avour of food and the light that transforms the darkness.

Undertaking this path of transformation produces the fl avour and light of good works which lift burdens from our fellow human beings, not for the praise of the disciple but for the praise to God. In this way, these good works draw others into the circle of God’s friendship and the experience of the kingdom.

Disciples walk the path of vulnerability and risk in order to help lift burdens from human beings; to make the world safe for their brothers and sisters.

These good, life-giving actions towards our fellow human beings restore life, heal relationships and seek peace and justice.

This non-aggressive, non-grasping, non-competitive stance towards one another would hardly be described by many in today’s world as the way to a successful life. It is a real challenge to live by the Gospel in a world which fawns over and celebrates wealth, power, aggression, status and deceptive and combative behaviour. We, too, can be easily seduced.

We need to be bold and brave in our care for one another, like a light-fi lled city on a hilltop.

So, can we run the risk of being poor in spirit, gentle, a peacemaker, working for what is right, being merciful, or persecuted in the cause of right? Can we be vulnerable risk-takers?

As always, the fi rst reading (see back page) provides an introduction to the Gospel text. The reading from Isaiah (58:7-10) gives some very practical examples of good works: share your bread with the hungry, clothe the naked, look after your family members. Then ‘your light will shine’. Integrity will be yours and God will walk with you. ‘If you do away with the angry word and the clenched fi st, feed the hungry, give relief to the oppressed, your light will rise in the darkness and your shadows become like noon.’

A great ‘setting of the scene’ for the Gospel!